As the Force Wills
by Velvet Elfin
Summary: Anakin was not the only child that was found by the will of the Force. This is the Tale of how Qui-Gon Jinn came to the Jedi Temple. Reworked. This is the begining of a possible series.


Standard disclaimer: The Star Wars Universe belongs to George Lucas. I am only playing with his toys for a little while and I make no money from my little adventure. Ber-Lyn Almo and Trevilin Teal belong to me with all of their faults, as does his Master Jarris Jinn.  
  
A/N: This was posted before full of errors. Thank you Rouge Jedi and My Master Darth_Solent for the Beta. This has been reworked for your enjoyment.  
  
Feedback: Praise is good. Constructive criticism is better. No Flames Please.  
  
As the Force Wills  
  
The tall man paced the common area of the living quarters he shared with his two-year-old son while they were on this Force-forsaken planet. Ber-Lyn was angry. He was to meet a potential client in twenty minutes.  
  
The woman who had been recommended to watch his son was late again. Ber-Lyn had lost three jobs due to her lack of punctuality. He was a stickler for keeping your word if you made it. Ber-Lyn was tired of relying on strangers and people he had just met for basic needs.  
  
Maybe, he considered it was time to take another wife. This idea hurt his heart, but his mind knew it was the only logical choice. The need for female companionship and his son needed a woman's care as they moved from planet to planet. Ber-Lynn wasn't able to give up his life as a shuttle pilot and there hadn't been much need to do so until now. Six months before an indigenous rat like creature bit his wife causing her death and leaving him alone with their two-year-old son.  
  
Ber-Lyn had wasted another ten minutes worrying about things that couldn't be changed and then gave up all hope that the woman would show. This caused him to make one of his most irrational decisions since becoming a parent. Ber-Lyn would take his son with him to the meeting. The boy was a quiet child who almost never cried or made much of a fuss. They needed the money that this run would provide. Missing the last three charters put a large strain on the finances. Taking a child to a bar was not the wisest of decisions, but Ber-Lyn was left with little choice.  
  
In the few minutes left to him Ber-Lyn set about getting ready for the trip across town. Pulling a chunk of meat and some milk from the cooling unit he added to it a piece of a hard roll. Ber-Lyn was grateful that his son had not taken his nap today. It would make things easier if the boy fell asleep while his father did business. Ber-Lyn placed a pillow, a blanket, and the food in a large basket, picked up his son with his other arm and headed out the door.  
  
As the small body nestled against the large shoulder of his father the man pointed out objects for the boy to see. Ber-Lyn said their name and waited patiently for the child to repeat the words. This was a favorite game for the little boy. Looking at the small bundle in his arms he thought about the boy's beloved mother. He missed her. His son took after his mother in so many ways. They were both quiet but full of life, the same brilliant blue eyes, and he had his mother's gentle smile. Ber-Lyn noted the boy would have his coloring and his height as he grew up. A chuckle escaped his lips the little one would have no trouble attracting women when he was older.  
  
Until he became a father his dislike of children seemed unreasonable and Ber-Lyn had no time for them until they were teenagers. Yet his son was different. The child did not irritate him. Yes, he knew that all fathers or mothers said the same thing about their children. His son was always the quietest of any person in a crowd; this was unusual because the boy was always happy whether in a group or alone.  
  
He entered the tavern and nodded to the barkeep knowing that he looked odd carrying a child into a bar. Ber-Lyn headed straight to the back where the regulars would notice him less. He had no time to spare but fortunately the men he was there to meet were also running behind and he was definitely grateful because it gave him time to set up the bed for his son.  
  
The tall man took the food from the basket, then placed his son on the pillow and handed the boy the meat and bread and watched the child as he munched gleefully. With his son fed he ordered a drink and sat down to wait for the men to arrive.  
  
Twenty minutes later the man cleaned up his sleepy son and laid him in the basket, which he then pushed under the table out of the way. Ber-Lyn ordered another drink and this time he sat and sipped it for the better part of an hour.  
  
The man was ready to call the night a loss and take his son home, when two men entered the bar glancing furtively behind then. Satisfied that no one had followed them, they looked around the bar noting the different patrons. Ordering a drink they sauntered back to the table where the man sat with his child. The thin man with narrow features sat down, while the other chose to remain standing, shifting from foot to foot.  
  
"Captain Ber-Lyn Almo I presume," he said with a slight accent. Ber-Lyn nodded quickly noting the unusual manner in which the man spoke, "This is my companion and tonight we will call him Nervous and I am, well . let's call me Cautious," Ber-Lyn tried not to laugh, it didn't pay to insult the customers, and the littlest thing might set these two off. "I should stand up, pick up my son and walk away NOW!" He thought. Nervous men equaled untold danger in great quantity, and he did not want anything to happen to his son.  
  
The standing man who was introduced as Nervous said, "My associate and I need transport to the planet's lunar colony. We will pay you 1300 dectar," Ber-Lyn rationalized for a moment, they couldn't be in that much trouble if they only needed to go to the moon. 1300 dectar would keep him and his boy for almost a solar year if he were careful. Right then Ber-Lyn decided to ignore the nagging feelings of danger that had started when the men entered the bar. Throwing caution to the wind he accepted the job. He cleared his throat and said, "Gentlemen I believe we have a deal although I require half of the payment up front and in cash, then we will talk about the departure schedule."  
  
The man who called himself Cautious nodded and handed the Captain a data pad saying, "I trust this is to your liking," Ber-Lyn could not help but smile, it seemed as though things were beginning to look up, "Yes very; when would you and your companion like to leave?" he asked.  
  
The standing man was about to reply when the tavern door burst open and four men with blasters entered. The two men with him froze. Ber-Lyn began to curse in every language he knew. He wished he had listened to his gut and walked away in the beginning. Trying to show the men that he was not a threat, Ber-Lyn bent down to retrieve his son from under the table when he felt a searing pain in his chest. He looked down at the gaping hole in his torso and tried to stumble away from the table so they would not find the boy. "My beautiful son," thinking to himself, "what will happen to you?" As he drew his last breath, the two men who had hired him fell to the floor with blaster wounds through the heart.  
  
Four hours later a very scared little boy wakes up all alone in the basket and begins to howl. He cannot feel his father's presence and he cries harder. This causes a disturbance, and the barkeep walked toward the rear of the room intent on finding the source of the racket. The attendant pulled the basket out from under the table and could not believe his eyes. Someone had left a two-year-old child in his bar. "Some mother must have gotten herself too drunk to remember that she brought you," he said shaking his head at the stupidity of women.  
  
The short balding man picked up the child who now began to howl louder and walking over to the door he sets the child down outside on the porch, "Go on home brat. Come back when you can drink something other than milk," Laughing at his own joke the barkeep he turned and headed back into the bar.  
  
Immediately after the bald barkeep put the little boy down, he stopped sobbing. Even though the boy still shuddered a little, his curiosity won out and he meandered down off the doorstep of the bar.  
  
Waddling down the vacant street the little one tried to remember the game his daddy taught him while they walked from place to place. It was very dark on the road, and without his daddy's strong presence, he became afraid. He wished that his daddy would hurry up and come for him. The little boy kept moving forward as if he was being pulled to something. Waddling in and out of doorways and alleys, he almost made his way across town.  
  
A young man stumbled out of the local brothel. Trevilin was drunk and if the truth were to be told, he didn't care. He liked the way it felt. The young man had just lost someone very special to him and this was the closest he had come to feeling anything since the death. His Master had joined the Force six days ago and Trevilin would not have believed that a person could feel so dead inside.  
  
He staggered into the alley beside the brothel where the grief, alcohol, and lack of sleep overwhelmed him. He slumped to the ground and passed out.  
  
About fifteen minutes later a small child entered the alley climbs upon the young man's chest and drifts off to sleep with a contented smile on his face. The boy had found what he was looking for.  
  
Trevilin awoke to a most horrific smell the next morning. Trying to figure out where the smell was coming from, he tried to move and he felt a solid weight on his stomach. Now Trevilin knew why the Council frowned on the intake of alcohol. He had no idea how he got here or what was causing the weight on his upper body. He could have been killed. "Sith why didn't that happen?" he wondered. The young man dropped his head backwards hitting it on the metal barrels behind him.  
  
The loud bang awoke the sleeping bundle in his lap. Startled to find a child nestled against him, Trevilin gazed into the clearest blue eyes he had ever seen. The child giggled and held his arms up to the young man. He stared at the child dumfounded and was ready to push him off his lap, when he felt the Force that surrounded the boy and himself. This was the first time he had listened to the Force in a number of days, and it hit him with an intensity he had never felt before.  
  
The young Padawan pulled the child closer to him and was completely overwhelmed by the odor coming from the diaper region. Trevilin looked around for the child's parents and saw no one about at this hour of the morning. He knew that he couldn't leave the defenseless child alone. So he stood up dusted himself off and picked up the boy. "Little guy the first thing we have to do is to get rid of that reeking diaper. Come with me I know just what to do," he carried the little boy to the temporary quarters where he resided during the time he was on the planet.  
  
Trevilin searched his travel pack for something he could use as a diaper and he prepared a bath for the boy. Thanking his Master for all the times he had sent him to do crèche duty for misconduct, it was easy to bathe the little boy, "We need you clean little one, I can't stand the smell and I don't think that your parents will be too happy either. Let's just hope we can find them," he smiled at the child.  
  
While the boy splashed in the water, the Padawan considered how the child came to be in the alley at this time of the morning. Trevilin knew that the Force was unusually strong around the boy, and Master Yoda's words flashed through his mind. "Happens by chance nothing does, directed by the will of the Force it is." He thought about taking the boy to the temple, if he decided to go back. The idea of training under a new Master caused tears to fill his eyes.  
  
When the bath was complete, he dried the child off and dressed him in the makeshift diaper, "That will have to do little guy until we can find out who you belong to," Trevilin gave the little boy a ration bar and headed into the fresher to clean himself up. When the Padawan was done he packed up the little boy and headed into town to find the child's family.  
  
The first place Trevilin started was what passed for the local law enforcement base to find out if someone had reported a missing child. When he found no one had he figured he would ask in local businesses and bars starting with the brothel where he found the boy. As he proceeded to question people no one had an answer as to who the child was or where his parents were. They did however offer to take the boy off his hands.  
  
He found himself loath to let the child go. He had not felt this much peace since his Master's death. The little guy must be very strong in the Force indeed he thought. He had more success in the next place.  
  
A woman remembered that a man had brought a baby in to the tavern last night. The syndicate killed him but she did not know if this was the same child. The Padawan thanked her for the information and headed for the tavern. Entering the bar he was grateful that these types of establishments stayed open all the time. Trevilin walked to the bar area ignoring the startled looks he received from the patrons and motioned toward the attendant.  
  
The man snickered and said, "I thought I told you not to come back until you can handle your liquor child," The Padawan snorted, "Great I always get the ones who think they're comedians." He straightened himself up shifting the child a little bit and said, " I am Jedi Padawan Trevilin Teal and I am searching for this boy's parents. I was told that a man brought a child in here last night. Did the man take the child with him when he left?"  
  
The man standing behind the bar studied the child for a moment, "Him? No, he didn't take the child. That fool got himself killed trying to help two men flee the syndicate. He left that poor defenseless child alone," the bar tender said with false sincerity, "Had I known who the kid was last night when I put him outside I would have kept him. Free labor you know," The barkeep thought maybe he could talk this man into giving him back the child.  
  
Trevilin's mind was now made up. The Force wanted him to find this child. As a Jedi He would not allow the little guy to become a slave for some greedy bar owner. This child was strong with the Force and the temple always accepted new little ones. Narrowing his eyes at the self-seeking man he asked, " You wouldn't know the boy's name now would you?"  
  
"No" the man behind the bar replied, "but I can take him off your hands and Boy will work just fine for his name," He finished greedily.  
  
Disgusted by the man's selfishness, Trevilin turned on his heal without another word and left the place before he used the Force to do something to the miserable fool.  
  
Walking to the river outside of the small village he placed a communication to the Jedi Temple. The Padawan wanted to ask them if it was legal to bring the boy with him since the father was dead and he could find no other guardian for the boy.  
  
To his surprise Master Yoda was the one who answered, "Bring him you must," the tiny green Master said, watching the young man who had left the temple in despair.  
  
Trevilin became animated when speaking about the child, and the Jedi Council member knew the young man's heart would heal, "Decided you have, your training you will finish. Hum?"  
  
The Master was rewarded with a large smile and he said, "Yes, Master Yoda. I will not run from my destiny any more. I will not bring shame on my Master by failing to become a Jedi Knight. You were right when you said every thing happens for a reason and I understand that now. If I had not brought my Master's ashes to his family, I would never have found the boy. May I make a request of the Council?"  
  
"Want to name the child, you do?" The Padawan blushed and replied, "Yes Master Yoda. There is no one on the planet who knows his name, and I thought that since the boy is starting a new life he needs a new name."  
  
Yoda nodded his head and perked up his ears up and said, "Good, it is. Help heal you, it will. Bring him before us, when Coruscant you reach. May the Force be with you, Padawan Teal."  
  
The young man said, "With you too Master Yoda," as he broke the link. Standing by the river he noticed a gleaming ebony stone and bent down to pick it up. Holding it in his left hand he carried it and his new traveling companion to his spacecraft.  
  
Trevilin finished inputting the data for the return trip to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.  
  
Trevilin turned to the small boy and said; "My Master's name was Jarris Jinn, so how about we call you Qui-Gon Jinn after my Master?" The little boy looked at the Padawan, giggled and clapped his hands.  
  
Looking over the child's left shoulder he thought, he had seen his Master, "I hope you like it My Master. May the Force be with you my Friend."  
  
There outlined in blue a man stood smiling. He knew the young man would make a great Jedi Knight one day, "Very much, my beloved Padawan, and may the Force be with you always," he said as he faded from sight.  
  
  
  
Thus begins Qui-Gon's journey to the Jedi Temple on his way to becoming a Jedi Knight. You know the rest of the story or do you? Watch for the continuing saga as he grows up to be Padawan to Yoda and why Dooku claimed he was Qui-Gon's Master. 


End file.
